1. Field of the Invention
My invention relates to methods and apparatus for handling papers, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for removing selected, punched papers from file folders wherein they are secured by fasteners of the type sometimes called Acco fasteners.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The term "prior art" as used herein or in any statement made by or on behalf of applicant means only that any document or thing referred to as prior art bears, directly or inferentially, a date which is earlier than the effective filing date hereof.
It has been known for many years to retain papers in file folders by means of what are sometimes called Acco fasteners.
As is well known to those having ordinary skill in the art, an Acco fastener is comprised at least of an elongated member fabricated from thin, pliant, manually malleable or easily formable metallic material, which is generally called a "base" in the stationery trade. Such a base is generally divided into two outer portions, called "legs", or "prongs", and a somewhat wider central portion called the "body".
As is also well known, the method of using such a base consists in affixing the body thereof to a file folder, erecting the legs perpendicular to the body, passing the punchings in a plurality of sheets to be filed over the legs, and then bending the legs against the top sheet, thereby fastening these sheets into the folder.
As is well known in the art, the base may be fastened to the folder by passing its legs through two holes punched in a flap which is integral with the folder, with the legs disposed outwardly from the folder; or by adhering one face of the base body to the folder.
As is also well known, the sheets to be filed may be secured to the folder by simply turning the outer ends of the legs back against the top sheet, or the outer ends of the legs may be interengaged with a retaining device, sometimes called a "compressor", which bears upon the top sheet and is provided with sliding retainers for retaining the outer ends of the legs in interengagment with it.
While Acco-type fasteners have many advantages, and have found wide if not universal acceptance, their use gives rise to the problem of removing from a stack of papers fastened in a file folder by an Acco-type fastener one or more selected papers which are located within the stack, and then restoring to the stack the papers originally located above the selected papers (called herein the "superincumbent" or "overlying" papers or sheets). This problem is greater, of course, when the selected papers are at or near the bottom of the stack. This problem will herein be called the "submerged sheet removal problem".
Many expedients have been adopted in an attempt to solve the submerged sheet removal problem, such as the expedient of inserting a reverse-positioned base into the aligned holes in the sheets of the stack after first erecting the legs of the fastener, raising the superincumbent sheets onto the reverse-positioned base, lifting off the superincumbent sheets and the reverse-positioned base, lifting off the selected sheets, realigning and reinserting the reverse-positioned base, returning the superincumbent papers to the stack, and removing the reverse-positioned base.
Devices are found in the prior art which address the submerged sheet removal problem, such as a device which includes a pair of tubes which are passed over the fastener base legs, whereby the superincumbent sheets can be lifted onto the tubes for removal from the base legs with their holes remaining in alignment Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,084,911 and 4,632,586, copies of which are supplied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office herewith.
Prior art submerged sheet removal devices sold under the trademarks Copyclip, TIP-CLIP, Easiclip, and DocuClip are shown and described in the copies of advertising literature supplied to the Patent and Trademark Office herewith.
Such prior art expedients and devices, however, generally require that an element of a superincumbent sheet removal device be aligned with and then engaged with each base leg of the fastener in order to install the device.
Further, such prior art expedients and devices in general require that the superincumbent sheets be manipulated as a group onto the superincumbent sheet removal device after installing the superincumbent sheet removal device.
Yet further, such prior art expedients and devices in general require the realignment and reengagement of said elements with the fastener base legs, i.e., the reinstallation of the superincumbent sheet removal device, when the superincumbent sheets are returned to the file folder.
Further still, these prior art expedients and devices in general involve the manipulation of the superincumbent sheets as a group in order to return them from the superincumbent sheet removal device to their position on top of the remainder of the stack when the superincumbent sheets are returned to the file folder.
It is believed that the United States patents listed immediately below, which were adduced by an independently made prior art search, contain information which is or might be construed to be material to the examination of this patent application.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor ______________________________________ 3,190,642 W. Smith 3,476,360 R. Renfroe 3,996,667 G. Barnard 4,462,736 C. Jenkins ______________________________________
No representation or admission is made that any of the above-listed patents or other documents is part of the prior art, or that no more pertinent information exists.